Saturday, February 27, 2010

The letter came and we are a congregation now, as of last night. The brother that read the letter did a really cool thing too...he recounted the different ones arrival times to Hermosillo. I don't think I have ever heard everyone in a congregations name read from the platform before, but because there is such a small group it was possible, and it made it very personal for everyone I am sure. But anyway, now if any of you want to come to work along in the ministry work here, there is a REAL CONFIRMED congregation for you to attend. :-)

Friday, February 26, 2010

I have to show everyone this trailer. A man in his sixties pulled in with it. He came over later to visit so I could ask him lots of questions. It is a teardrop and he pulls it with an XB. He used to pull it with a mini-cooper but just changed up. He has logged over 50,000 miles traveling through the continent. He says he gets 33 miles to the gallon and yesterday did the Durango Hill drive which is one of the most dangerous, but he said everything handled great. I LOVE hearing about people's travels.

Also, here are some pics of Harvey and Pearl and me in San Carlos on Monday. We just drove down to eat lunch on the beach. Gorgeous still bay water that was crystal clear. When I threw Harvey into the water for a dip, you should have seen how fast Pearl moved - it was like suddenly she became a rock crab. Never saw a dog cover 30 feet so fast to get away from me. :-)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

....instead it is about being so happy about something and wanting to share it. This morning we had such a great time in service. Cheryl Keller sent me a great presentation for the Bible Teach book this morning and I decided to use it. I was able to start two Bible studies, and hopefully a third with a man who took the book and is considering the study course. Then on the way home I decided to stop and talk to the administration office at the big university. They were exceptionally nice. I actually just wanted to know where I could post a little notice letting the students know my name and number if they wanted a study, but the woman took me upstairs to meet the academic director of the university, and let me show her the book (Bible Teach book) and tell her about the course of study in it. She thought it was just grand and asked me to make 20 posters so that she can have them posted around the campus for the students to call me. It was really unexpected, but I am so thankful in many regards for the opportunity. All the brothers and sisters are having wonderul results in their volunteer (ministry) work here and I am just so grateful I can be part of it. :-) ...other than this the weather has been awesome and life at the rv park couldn't be better. :-)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

We had such a great time tonight. A couple in the congregation that have a home WAY out in the country invited everyone over for tamales, corn and a bonfire. It was absolutely super. Before going I was a little worried because my GPS said: "This route takes you on dirt road, are you sure?" So to be on the safe side, with visions of my head of that family that got lost and died in Death Valley Nevada, I decided to phone Joe and ask him to confirm the directions. In the end I ended up following Patricia and their group as they drove, but the GPS was right - dirt, rustic, road for part of it. Anyways, there are some brothers in the hall that are excellent guitar players and it was so fun listening to them. Brother Norberg knew some Johnny Cash and some other great songs (good voice), and the other brothers knew some beautiful Spanish songs, so it couldn't have been a better time. I attached a little clip for everyone. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend too!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Hope everyone is having a great week. This week is still one of organization but it has been really good. Went out in the ministry work on Tuesday and had a really good time. I personally didn't speak with anyone but Joe and Col were saying of the nine homes they visited something like 4 of them had serious discussions that they are returning on. My internet connection is almost installed. The park internet has been fabulous but I am still going ahead with the private internet connection too to be on the safe side due to work. Couldn't ask for a better park though - super clean, secure, with great internet connection as I mentioned.Harvey and Pearl and I are heading down to explore Kino Bay on Monday - Joe, Col, (Sophie their dog), Alejandro and Patricia, are going that day too so it should be really nice. I will show some pics of course. Getting one of Harve with a snorkel on his head may be difficult, but one of him rolling in the sand or Pearl chasing a bird may be doable. :-)I feel like I have been all over the city now...and I like it. It is definitely not a tourist city, but for someone that wants to have all the amenities of a city and still enjoy the Mexican culture then it is perfect. It feels small compared to Seoul, but the roads are nice and wide for the most part, and it is easy to get around.Okay will run. Yesterday I had a headache but today back in top form so I have a bunch of little projects - including studying my Spanish - before the meeting tonight. Everyone have an awesome weekend.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Well I feel somewhat accomplished today. First I found my way to the KH with no trouble and listened to an excellent talk on the resurrection hope. Then after, I drove around looking for a truck wash as I can't stand all the dirt on it from traveling down here and rain the other day. However, I didn't find one by the time I got back to the RV park, basically because I don't know what I am looking for. So I noticed that beside the security guard in the RV Park is a huge hose on a tap, so I thought maybe he would consider washing my truck, so in my worst Spanish, I walked up to him and said "yo pagar tu lavar mi truck". He nodded his head yes so a deal was struck and he washed the truck. This may work out just perfect for the future. Now I just have to find a laundry person I can pay and life will be absolutely perfect. :-)

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Wanted to give you all an update on the congregation as I was supposed to go to my first meeting last night...unfortunately I couldn't find the Kingdom Hall. Apparently I was sitting in the gas station parking lot around the corner of it during one part of my search but it was very dark with lots of traffic and I missed it. Anyway, after an hour of searching, going up and down every street in the area, before I got to the teary-eyed stage, I headed over to Soriana. It is a big Mexican change of stores. Did a little shopping then headed home to wait for the meeting to be over so I could call Joe and Col and find out from them if they found it, and just how far away I was. As I mentioned at the outset, I did pretty good in that I was basically in the same block, so tomorrow should be a cinch. Today now I have just been milling around the RV doing cleaning and reading. Joe and Col are coming over later. It is desperately cold in the mornings here so I am very thankful to have the heat of the RV - if not I would for sure rattle myself to death by teeth chattering. Harvey and Pearl are doing good. I notice that with Harvey on the white rice diet recommended by the vet that the carbs are really helping him get his energy back. I am attaching a picture of a jack rabbit. You may find this hard to believe, but the rabbits in the farm area behind the park are truly the size of Harvey - no exaggeration. I initially thought it was a coyote running between the bushes, but they are just massively huge rabbits. Okay, talk to everyone later.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

It is hard to believe but we are finally here - result of lots of prayer...and hard work too...but definitely mostly prayer :-) There were a few moments when I wondered if it was going to come together. Even though I had a wonderful time living in Asia, this move has even brought greater satisfaction to my life. I have been wanting to move to Mexico for a long time so it is really hard to believe at moments that it has finally happened. About 10 days ago, we faced a big hurdle - "healthy as a horse" Harvey, was sick for the first time in his life but it was a big one, and after 3 days of him laying motionless and being in pain I was wondering if he was going to press his paw against the wall and leave me a "goodbye mama note". But things turned around. He developed pancreatitis which is life threatening. Usually the doctors will insist that the dog be kept in the hospital on IV in an attempt to help them but since I told him I would sit beside him ( more than ANY nurse) and give medicine in ANY way necessary if he let Harve lay at home instead. However, on the morning of day four I was wondering if "this was it" because he was down on his fluids again and I couldn't get him to tke any even with a syringe down the throat, but then I got this idea. I noticed as he was laying practically comatose for those three days that every time I opened up the HAPPY HIPS bag for Pearl that even in his dire state his ears would wiggle a little. So I got this idea that I would make some home made chicken broth (nuturients but no pieces in it) and then I decided I would go sit in front of his bed by his head, call his name to get his eyes to slit open and then make an animated display of grinding HAPPY HIP pieces into the chicken broth. He just layed still while I did this, and then I mved the bowl of broth close to his face, and gradually his tongue slithered sideways out his mouth and I held the bowl so he could put it in - then after he tasted it he raised his head a little and lapped up the whole cup of it just to get the piece of HAPPY HIPS he could see resting on the bottom. At this moment I was so glad that I am such a mush heart and have no spine for giving treats which has resulted in Pearl and Harvey being addicted. Within one hour of him drinking the chicken broth I started to see an improvement, and within two hours I had a feeling that things were turning around. By mid morning I put his jacket on because the illness had made him hypothermic with temperature only of 98 degrees. I then gave him one last pain killer (opium based to control the pain) and put him in his buggy for a push down the trail. I just thought the fresh air would help him too. Anyway, he is moving slower still, but seems to be on the path to getting better. He has been eating white rice and chicken breast these days as that is what the vets recommend for healing dogs (easy to digest and nutritious) but the surprizing part is that is was ready to go on Friday when I planned to take off. Now that we are here him and Pearl are just loving the park. There is lots of room to run and walk...and roll...and I have a special RV dog yard that I bought for them from GOGO pets so they can hangout outside now without being on a lead.

I have included some pics of our travel down. The dark one of the trucks was our first night on the road. We had to park amongst the big rigs so that I didn't have to unhitch.

The second one is of Harvey and Pearl rolling on the turf in the park. They built a putting green in the middle of the park for people that want to practise their golf. Pearl and Harvey love it so much that they just roll and roll and roll.

Tomorrow night is the first meeting at the new congregation. I will tell you all about it later. And also I will include some pics of the city. It is big but not high. I am pretty sure I will like living here - easy to get around and everything a person needs, and wonderful people every place I have gone.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Just a brief blog to let everyone know that we are on the road. Dad, Mom and Keith worked hard to help me get some last minute things done on the trailer. Dad put in a "green" tankless water heater for me, and also some jazzy style hitch that claims I won't get blown over in a hurricane. :-/ ...time will tell on that one I guess. And Keith helped him with the details of it, so it was really nice to have their hard work. We got on the road about 3:30 yesterday and arrived in Yuma at 6pm. I was hoping to find my uncle Joe and aunti Edna in Yuma for the evening at their park but it was just too dark to see the gate I was looking for. Two other parks were sold out of pull-throughs (I don't want to unhitch until Mex) so we took off driving over the mountain (hill) toward Tucson, and on the other side of it there was a big rig parking lot so I pulled into the middle of them as most of them were overnighting it too, and the three of us jumped into bed. Harvey and Pearl were happy I could tell to get out of the truck and crawl under their covers. Me too. :-) This morning we took the 4.5 hour drive over to Nogales. We are at a park called De Anza. It used to be an old greyhound dog racing park so it excellent for pets and beautiful grounds with an indoor golf range for the golf nuts :-) and a pool and spa for those of us keen on shriveled skin. We will get up at 5 tomorrow morning and make the drive to the border and hopefully be across by 6am and then on the road down. It is only a three hour drive so at the lastest I anticipate getting there by noon. Tomorrow after I get set up and organized I will upload some pics for everyone to see. ...Harvey and Pearl are traveling well, and I can see how nice it is having an RV with pets because it is great to pop the door open and they are at home and their is no lugging of stuff around. Must be like that for parents with children too. Okay, talk to everyone tomorrow.